Soap-distributer for toilet use.



No. 889,806. Y A MT1-:111811 JUNE 2, 1908. J. W. HOFFMAN 8c. G. MU'NsoN.

SOAP DISTRIBUTBR FOR TOILET USB.

11111108110111111111 JUNI: 11. 1901.

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@4551265565 Iriver/11012;

v PATBNTEDJUNB2,1908.

J. wf. HOFFMAN & c. G. Munson.

SOAP DISTRIBUTER-PORTOILET USE. "w vAPPLIfunIoN FILED JUNE 11. 1907.

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UNITED STAFFFFFNT oFFioF..

JOHN W. HOFFMAN AND CHARLES G. MUNSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SOAP-DISTRIBUTER FOR TOILET USE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 2, 1908.

supply means orsoap distributors for toilet purposes. l

An objectof our invention is to provide a sanitary soap supplyY device for ejecting at each action a given quantity of plastic soap, the quantity expelled by an ejecting action on the part of the device being suitable for the use of a person in making his oriher toilet.

Further` objects are to expel the plastic soap in stick form; to provide a practical and reliable device; to permit an action of the device to make a clean discharge of the required quantity of soap; to vpermit the storage of a quantity of plastic soap and the separation.therefrom by each action of a suitable quantity to keep plastic soap within the distributor from hardening; to prevent Y the soap from leaking out by reason of jarring of the distributer on a train or from other causes; to provide simple, coin )act and durable means for the 'purposes a'oresaid; to greatly economize in the use of soap in the wash rooms on trains and in other desired places; 'and to provide various details of construction serving to increase the general efficiency and utility of soap supply' In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a soap distributor einbodying our invention. Fig. 2 is a section through Fig. 1 on a vertical central plane. Fig. 3 illustrates the piston barrel oi' delivery chamber in longitudinal central section, the piston being mainly in elevation, and the movable abutment jaw being in section. In this figure the piston is in position to cut off the supply of soap frein the'supply chamber to thedelivery chamber. Fig. 4 is alike view butyshowing the piston at the end of its forward stroke. Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 in Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a detail view illustrating the piston and abutment jaw.

In said drawings, the cup oricasing A serves to provide a supply chamber which when in use is filled to a suitable extent with plastic soap. A vThis cup or casing is provided with a screw cap 1 which can be removed to permit of the plastic soap to be filled into the space or chamber within the cup. The cup is also provided with a bottoni outlet or educltion port 2 through which the soap is caused to feed ou't frein the supply chamber by means of a piston or plunger B arranged for action within the cup and subject to the,pressure of a spring C, which serves to press the face of the plunger downwardly against the mass of plastic soap. The plunger is fitted v to slide up-and-down within the supply chamber, and to prevent back leak of the soap thus under compression, the plunger is provided with a cup washer 3, which fits against the inner side' wall of the supply chamber, thereby preventing the soap from leaking between the plunger and the side wall of the supply chamber. The plunger is also constructed or provided with a stem 4, and the end of the cup formed by the ca is provided With an opening 5 through w iich the plunger stein extends and moves longitudinally. The plunger stem 4 is threaded to receive a nut 6 which is fitted to work thereon for the following purpose. In order to suitably .fill the cup, as in Fig. 2, in which 7 indicates a body of plastic soap understood to have been filled therein, the operator will unscrew the cap 1 and then conveniently re-V move as a whole'the cap, the plunger and stemthereoi and the spring. After or prior to having filled a suitable quantity of plastic soa into the cup as illustrated, the operator wil turn the nut 6 in direction to bring it againstthe cap and thereby draw the plunger toward the cap so as to compress the spring between the cap and the plunger, it being url derstood that the spring can be thus 'oomp pressed as in Fig. 2, either before or after the yremoval of the cap. After having thus coinpressed the y, screwed onto e cu p, whereby the plunger will then lie over or upon the top of the body. or

the adjustment of the nut so as to bringit into the position shown ih Figs. l and 2, the spring will be left free to exert its expansive force `against the plunger and cause the latter tospring, the cap can be again ti press downwardly against the mass of plastic -soap Within the supply chamber.`

VIn .order to permit the pressure of this spring plunger'ito' e'li'eetively expel the soap t irough the bottoni outlet 2 of the cup, the

100 mass 7 of plastic soap, and by then reversing ber for receiving space for the charge 11.

' a vertical central ejection. This shell or bottom portion 8 of the cu 'converges or tapers toward such port or out et. If the cup were a straight cylinder having a flat-bottom end with'a central aperture, the lines of pressure would tend to axis and prevent effective discharge, but by forming the lower part 8 of the cup tapered, such as cone-shaped, and forming the art 8a above such bottom part strai ht, suc asstraight cylinder, no undesirab e packing and oppositionto the expulsion of the soap will occur.

. The lower terminal of this tapered part of the cup or casing. is provided with a down- Ward projection 9'fo`rming a bearing for -a shell or casing D which extends through an opening formed transversely through such bearing. The casing D is preferablytubular and is desirably removably held in the bearing 9 by suitable means, such as by ascrew 10. The shell or casing D provides a chama charge of plastic soa from the sup ly chamber, and to such end 1t is provided with a lateral aperture which registers with port 2 of the supply chamber, the said opening in the shell or vtubular casing D being indicated by dotted line 2a in Fig. 2. When therefore certain chamber space within the' casing D at a point below the registering ports 2 and 2a is in open communication with the supply chamber by way of said registering ports, the constant down pressure of the plunger will force a portion of the plastic soa mto such chamber space in shell or casing il; so as to provide therein a charge for ultimate casing D also contains .and formsiJ guide-way or cylinder vfor means adapted for determining the quantit of the aforesaid charge and forejecting'suc charge at a suitable point.

With reference to means for operating upon or manipulating a charge 11 (Fig. 2) of p astic soap which has been thus fed into a pnortion of the chamber space within casing aspring plunger or reciprocative action wit in the said chamber and is normally held by a spring 12 with its inner` end at one .side of the registering ports 2 and 2a, and when in such osition its said inner end or face forms o ne ci) two temporary end walls which define the area of chamber When the piston lE 1s thus positioned to form one endwall of the charge receiving s ace, the o ositeend wallv of such space is defined andpibrmed by the inner end of an abutment device F al'so fitted for longitudinal reciprocative action Within the chamber of casmg D and arranged in alinement with the istonV When this piston and movable a utment are relatively spaced and positioned as in Fig. 2, the chamber space between themis in register with the ports 2,2a forming a passage and uniting to practically form an e'duction port for dis'- charging from th supply chamber into the compact the soap around `being in an expanded chamber and the piston itted fordelivery chamber and hence plastic soap in quantity to form charge 1 1 will be forced down through said port into the chamber space between the piston and the abutment. While the members E and F are in such position, the member .E is held by s )ring 12 in what is herein termed its rctracte position, and the member F is held in a retracted position and against forward movement independent of the member E by a small rod 13 extending from one to the other. This rod has a sliding connection with one-member, and a stop for limiting the extent of slide in a direction to permit the separation ofthe two members, as, in Fig. 2. For example, the member forming the abutment F is recessed back from its outer end and provided through its solid inner end portion with a centralbore for the rod l'which has one end )ortion screwed or otherwise suitablyattac ied to the inner endy of the piston E, the opposite end portion of such rod being extended through the inner end of the abutment piece or member and provided at its terminal within the recess 14 therein with a head or stop which abuts against the inner wall of the recess 14 and thereby prevents lateral pressure of the' charge l1. from forcing the abutment away from the piston when the latter is maintained by its spring inv the position shown in Fig. 2.

The small chamber or recessA withinv the abutment member F also contains a spiral spring 15 having one end abutting against one end 'of the casing D and having its op posite end abutting against the inner end wall of said recess 14, the spring in Fig. 2 condition. TheI ob ject 4of this spring is hereinafter explained in connection with reruirementswlnch render its presence desirab e..

' I n order to close thel port 2a and thereby cut off communication between the-.supply piston chamber provided by. .casing D, the plunger or piston E can be Ipushed inwardly against theresistance of its spring 12. When the 'iston is thus pushed inwardly', it will cut o the port 2 and 2L and also force the charge 11 towardl and against the movable abutment ieee, and this actionwill permit the forwar y moving charge to move said abutment member F in the direction the piston is moving. When the piston thus operated has reached a position to cut off communication between the supply chamber and the iston chamber, the abutment member will ave been moved to an extent -to com-press its backing spring 15 and bring its inner end face fromvone to the other side of a lateral discharge port 16 preferably through a nipple or nozzle G on the piston shell or casing D, as 1n Fig. 3, itbeing observed that in Fig. 2 showing the first osition, the inner end of the abutment member is at the right, While in Fig. 3 it is at the left of the bore of lee-..

nipple G. In this last mentioned figure, the abutment piece. has been forced along until it is positively arrested by al stop, as for example, it has been moved as aforesaid until its outer end abuts against end 17 of the casingl). The foregoing described movement of the piston is howevercontinued, and as it thus moves toward the now `stationary abutment member, it will push rod 13 farther into the recess of the latter. the stop or head on the end ofthe rod in such case sliding along within the coiled spring l5. As the piston thus advances toward the abut ment member, the space between them is contracted and hence the charge of plastic soap is forced out from the chamber into and throughthe nipple or nozzle bore to an extent proportional to the ultimate degree of closure between the op )osing faces or ends of the abutment and the piston.v

Inorder to effectively lsqueeze. the plastic soap from the pistony chamber into the nozzle bore, the opposing faces of the piston and abutment are beveled, the planes of such beveled faces being formed to converge u iwardly from the .nozzle bore' so as to stradd e the same when such members are in the position shown in Fig. 3, and. obviously, when the piston and abutment are back in the position shown in Fig. 2, the planes of these. faces will diverge downwardlyfrom the port 2, By thus roviding the piston and abutment with beve ed faces 18 and. 1), respectively, the' relative closing action between these faces will have a shearing action on the mass of plastic soap between them, and cause a quick and effective discharge. i

When the piston is released, it will ,be re tracted by its spring 12 into the first position shown in Fig.' 2, and before completingsuch retraetive action it will draw back rod 13 along with it to anvextent to draw the head on one end of such rod against the inner end wallof the recess in the abutment member and thereby ultimately lraw such. abutment member again into the position in said figura But when the piston begins to retract and thereby move away from the nozzle aperture, the tendency to create a vacuum will tend to draw back the plastic soap which had been forced into the nozzle, and as the soap whenf forced into and through such 'nozzle rejects therefrom in the form of astick, indicated by dotted lines 20 in Fig. It, the retraction of such material would cause the v stick 'to curl up, and also shorten. This however is obviated by alight spring 115 which is under compression in Figs. 3 and 4,

' and 4which as' soon as 'the piston begins to retract, forces the abutment member in direction to instantly follow the retractingv piston and cut off the entrance to the discharge port 16. Thus considered therefore we also providea cut off which cuts off the soap exit 16 from the piston barrel before the piston has yward ly into s uch ,thus referred to.

retracted to its first or normal osition. By thus closing the portl 16, the iston barrel is cut off from the outer air, ant. moreover, the charging space within the piston 'barrel is closed at one end by the sliding member F, and at the .other end by the piston E, the space between said two members being normall y below the port or passage between the supply chamber and the piston chamber. 'lhe plastic soap is therefore `kept from exposure to the air, and as long as the members AF and D are in the position shown in Fig. 2, the space between them will' be filled by a charge of plastic soap forced downspace by the plunger of the supply chamber. By iroviding the piston member E with a beveled end face 1S, said beveled end will rapidly and effectively close the )ort leading from the eentralportion of the `ottoni of the supply chamber into the discharge chamber, and when the piston is thus moved forward for such purpose,I its beveled end will not force the charge in direction upwardly through said port, but will move the charge-forward toward the lateral discharge port with which the discharge chamber is provided. When the discharge has been pushed forward to a point over the lateral discharge port 16, it will be effectively squeezed out through said port by the beveled jaw faces 1S and 1), while theY member E having the beveled jaw face `18 is coinpleting its forwardstroke.v The members E and F are shown cylindric and arranged for reciprocative action within a suitable piston casing or barrel, and .to prevent them from turning so as to displace the l proper relative arrangement of their beveled end faces, suitable guides are provided, as for example, the member E has a loiigitudinal slot or groove 21 for a guide pin 22 on the casing or barrel l), and the member F has a similar groove 23 for a guide pin 24, also on thesaid barrel. A The spring 12 and outer end portion of the iston can be constructed in any way suitable for the' purpose for which they are intended. In the drawings a short sleeve or barrel portion 25 is screwed oiitothe barrel which contains the piston or piston head E, and thepiston rod or stem 26 extends and works through an opening formed centrally through i a partition'27 Withwhich an end ortion of shell-or barrel section'ais previ ed. The spring 12 is arranged on thstem and within said tube 25 with its inner end abutting against the end portion 27 of the section 25 On the end of the piston stein is a push knob 28 having a tubular stem 29'1itted to slide in or upon the barrel portion '25, the knob being desirably provided with the word Push.

When the piston E and Aabutment F are back in the position sho-wn in Fig. 2, the space between them for the charge enlarges f inclined endl o "such communication without tending -to space is provided for a suitable quantity'of" soa which is fed into such space by reason of t e constant pressure-exerted downwardly on the massi/of soap Within the reservoir or supply chamber.

hen the piston is first advanced to cut.

oil' communication between the piston chamber and the. supply chamber, the beveled or the piston rapidly cuts off force the soap back into the upper supply chamber, and this action is also assisted b the yield of the movable abutment F whic 1 when the charge of soap is pressed against it', readily yields to such pressure since it is only backed by a light spring 15.

As soon as the movable abutment has reached the limit of such back movement, as

in Fig'. 3, continued. forward movement of the piston Will cause the plastic soap between said members E and F to begin to pass into the bore Tof nozzle G, and as the piston continues such movement until it meets the abutment as' in Fig. 4, the opposing inclined and u wardly converging faces of the piston and abutment will act as a pair of beveled jaws operating to squeeze the soap from between them and force into and through the nozzle G. The instant the piston is released it will be drawn back'into its first position by spring *12, and at suchtime the spring 15 causes the abutment to closely follow the piston and cut oif communicationl between the j piston chamber and the nozzle bore, and at a suitable ,moment the rod 13 will' have been drawn back to an extent to cause its head to engage the abutment and draw and maintain the latter in the position shown in Fig. 2.

As shown, the axis of the piston and hence the axis of the piston chamber which may also be termed the delivery chamber, is transverse to the axis of the combined supply and plunger chamber, th ultimate outlet port or ore 16 bein at one side of the axis of the amber. When the abutment as been forced back into the osition shown in Figs; 3 and 4 it istemporari y a stationary jaw at one side oiport 16 and having its face inclining in direction upwardly and over said bore.

supply chamber for containing a mass ofplast1c soa and having an outlet port'; a`piston cham er ada ted for communication with the vsu ply ciamber port; means for subjectmg't 'e mass of soap in the "supply chamber lto pressure `for feeding the soap `from the latter into the pistonchamber; a vpiston for. opening and closing the supply chamber. port, anda movable abutment o osite the piston, both being 'arranged Wit in the piston chamber; and means for normally and relatively spacing the piston and abutment in position to provide chamber space for receiving a chargeof soap from the supply chamber, the piston being movable forward for closing the supply port and moving the charge vagainst the abutment to adischargedu'ct or port connected `with the piston chamber, and the abutment being'movable under pressure of the advancing charge toan extent to cause it to pass the said discharge duct and form a jaw at one side thereof; the other jaw being formed by the advancin piston, and the plastic soap being squeeze mto and through the discharge duct by the s%ueezing action of the jaws formed by the a utment and piston. A

' 2j In a soap distributer for toilet use, a supply chamber having'a removable cap; a plunger arranged within the; supply chamber; a spring arranged between t e plunger and the cap, the plunger being constructed with a threaded stem arranged to extend and move longitudinally through anl opening in -the cap, and being provided with an adjustable vnut tively drawing together the plunger and cap and then reversely free and constant downward pressure on the part of the plunger; and means for receiving soap from the supply chamber successively in charfres or portions and successively eject- ,lng suc charges or portions in stick'form in -for toilet purcontaining a piston member havin piston face forming an a utvshifting abutment member and the piston permitting the two to. relatively move apart adjusted so as to permit.

which can be adjusted for relale connection between the to a limited extent, and in alternation therewith to relatively close together; stop meansv for limiting the extent of'movement in one ydirectionon the part of the abutment member; a spring backing the abutment member and having its expansive action in direction toward'the piston and means for supplying plastic soap 4between the piston andabutment when these members are in normal position. z

4. In a soap distributer, a supply chamber for containing a mass of plastlc soap; a, delivery chamber for receiving soap from the supply chamber and havin a discharge duct for the discharge of soap om the delivery chamber; a piston and an abutment within the delivery chamber with their relatively opposite faces inclined or beveled for forming 4jaw faces for squeezing soap between them out through the discharge du'ct ofthe delivery chamber when the piston is forced toward the abutment.

5. In a soap distributer, a piston 'chamber havlng an outlet duct and containing a piston and a reciprocating vabutment 'forward of the piston face, the piston and the abutment being Arelatively movable apart to receive a portion of plastic soap between them,

and relatively movable together te squeeze out the plastic soap when the same-is over the outlet duct, and therelatively opposite abutment vfaces being inclined to converge upwardly'from the outlet duct.

6. In a soap distributor, a supply chamber for containing a mass of plastic soap and having an outlet; a piston chamber having an outlet duct and connected with said outlet of the sup )ly chamber ;l aspring backed piston normal y held by the spring in position to temporarily maintain its face at one side of the connection between the two chambers; a movable abutment normally maintained by the piston with its face at the opposite side of the connection between the two chambers so as to leave between the pis'- ton and abutment faces a suitable'extent of chamber space for receivinga portion ol' soap from the supply chamber; a spring opposed to but yielding to the advance of the i abutment when the piston is moved forward to cut off connection between the two chambers and force the portion of soap in the piston chamber against the yielding abutment and forwardly to and over the outlet duct'of the piston chamber; and stop means for limiting such forward yield on the part of the abutment when its face nearest the piston has reached the far side of the out-let duct in order to permit the advancing piston and abutment face to coact as jaws for forcing/ the soap out through. said outlet duct.

7. In a soap distributor, a piston and a movable abutment; chamber space containing the piston and movable abutment and having an outlet for the discharge of soap in stick erm; a limited sliding connection between the piston and movable abutment permitting them to relativelyT separate and to relatively close together in alternation; means for arresting the forward movement of the movable abutment in position to form a jaw at one side of said discharge duct, the pistonbeing arranged for forward movement to coperate with the abutment as an opposing jaw; and a spring for forcing the abutment' back toward the piston and overv the discharge duc-t when the piston is drawn back fromits forward position,

8. In a soap distributor, a supply chamber having one end portion tapered toward a feed outlet and adapted for containing a mass of plastic soap; a spring plunger for pressing upon the mass ofplastic soapgindirection toward the feed outlet; a piston chamber connected between its ends with the feed outlet of the supply chamber, and having at one side of such connection' a lateral duct for the ejection of plastic soap in stick form; and a'pairzof jaws for receiving between them a portion of soap fed into the piston chamber, and for squeezingsuch soap out through the discharge duct of the pist-on chamber, one of said jaws being arranged for forward movement to cu t off communication between the supply and piston chambers, and the other jaw being arranged to yield and lnovc forward under pressure of the advancing body oi' soap pushed forward by the other jaw; and means for arresting tforward movement ol" the forward jaw at apoint suitable for its cooperation with the other jaw.

9. In a soap distributor, a cup or casing forming a supply chamber for containing `a mass of plastic soap and having a feed outlet; a piston barrel transX-*erse to the axis of the feed opening; a spring backed piston and a movable abutment arranged in relative alinement within the piston barrel; the abutment and piston being relatively separable and relatively movable together, the relative separation of the two members being permitted by a rod attached. to oneand having a limited sliding connection with the other.

10. In a soap distributer for toilet use, a supply chamber adapted for containing plastic soap and having a bottom outlet port; a piston chamber connected with the outlet port of the supply chamber to receive a charge of plastic soap therefrom and having a lateral outlet for the-ultimate discharge of plastic soap therefrom in stick form; a jaw member 'lttcd to reciprocate within. the piston chamber and arranged for closing the piston chamber outlet port when moved one way and for opening-such port when reversely moved, and a piston having a beveled vforward end and arranged for alternately opening. and cutting off communication between the supply chamber and piston chamber and for pushing a charge of plastic soap toward the said movable member in order to force the latter in direction to open the outlet port of the piston chamber and assume the position of one of two jaws for squeezing soap through the lateral outlet of the piston chamber.

il. In a soap distributer, a Vsupply chamber for containing'a mass of plastic soap and having a downwardly tapered lower end porvtion ported' for the downward ejection of the .plastic soap; a spring plunger operative within the supply chamber t0 exert a constant downward pressure upon the mass of soap within such chamber; a piston chamber arranged transverse to the axis of-the supply chamber and connected with the lower end thereof to permit the supply chamber to discharge by way of its bottom port into the transversely arranged piston chamber at a point between the ends of the latter; and a les piston and a shifting abutment movable within the' piston chamber into relative positions to temporarily provide between them space for receiving a charge of plastlc soapA from the supply chamber, the piston being in `stick form by two. jaws provided by the movable forwaffdhfromy suchl poition to in piston and shifting abutment.- extent to out o t e piston c am e1' from t e T supply chamber and move the charge therein 5 ,forward and to an extent to cause such l charge to move the shifting abutment in like Witnesses:

dlrection, said piston chamber having a side i' HARRY R. L. WHITE;- outlet through whioh plastic soap is squeezed OTTLLIE FREIBERG. 

